Question to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government:

To ask the Secretary of State for Housing, Communities and Local Government, what representations his Department has received on reports of councils breaking the Local Government Publicity Code in relation to lobbying campaigns on restructuring.

On 19 November 2025 I wrote to all councils in the local government reorganisation areas to remind them that they must have regard to the Recommended Code of Practice for Local Authority Publicity when developing and pursuing reorganisation proposals, and that the Secretary of State has powers, in Section 4A of the Local Government Act 1986, to direct compliance with some, or all, of the Code.

Representations on Publicity Code cases occur following Secretary of State deciding to pursue a case and issuing a council with a notice of the proposed direction(s). No such notice of directions have been issued to date in regard to council publicity on reorganisation.